What is “natural” when it comes to periods?
So this weekend, Adrienne and I somehow got on the topic of skipping periods on COCs, or combined oral contraceptives as well as the pills now on the market that allow for a woman to have fewer periods in a year. She seemed to find this “unnatural” but I do skip periods (by skipping the placebos) and don’t think it’s “unnatural” at all. It got me thinking about what we consider “natural” when it comes to our periods. It also made me think because we were reminiscing about our dear professor Chaia and I think this topic would fit nicely into her Anthropology of Nature course.
On a biomedical level, there really isn’t anything suggesting that skipping periods on hormonal birth control is unhealthy or bad for you. Our NPs prescribe monophasic pills for continuous use and can sometimes help alleviate some discomfort for women with conditions like endometriosis. Just to be sure, I asked our NP today how she explained how continuous use works. Basically, when you skip periods, or take pills continuously, you only grow a very thin uterine lining. It’s not like layer upon layer of lining grows and lingers there. That’s certainly an unpleasant image! Perhaps that’s what turns some people off? Some of the benefits of skipping periods is that you don’t have to deal with the bleeding, cramps, and other unpleasant aspects of PMS.
I also asked our NP what she says to people who feel that skipping periods is “unnatural.” Her answer was that it was individual choice (that is, after all, what we are all about). Her job isn’t to throw biomedical science at you to convince you otherwise. If you think your period is aligned with the moon, then great, do what you want. Cycles come in a lot of different lengths so really, there isn’t necessarily this amazing correlation between the moon and a woman’s body, but a lot of women still believe in it and who am I to say they’re wrong? We know it’s not going to harm a woman to skip periods, so keeping that in mind I think our job is to help women make educated, comfortable choices with their bodies.
So this reminded me of Chaia’s nature class because we discussed a lot about why we think some things are “natural” and how we label other things as “unnatural.” Those are really loaded words. I mean, how many times have you heard that homosexuality is “unnatural”? And what do you see when you walk down the aisle at the grocery store? “All natural.” These words are tossed around and we’re supposed to all know what they mean but oftentimes they mean different things to different people. I think the whole skipping periods deal is the same. When it comes down to it, it’s all about your personal perception of what is “natural” for your body and depends on your comfort level. We can’t go around stating that skipping periods is “unnatural” and therefore no one should do it. Likewise, we can’t go around saying every woman must have a period every month, because cycles don’t necessarily work that way either.
One time, the one guy in class joined in on a conversation about breast-feeding. He said that it was “natural” and came “naturally” to a woman and Chaia nearly bit his head off! She was like, “Are you kidding me?! There are CLASSES on how to breast feed! It’s DIFFICULT. It’s not like you birth this kid and it all works out perfectly!” The poor guy had really thought that every woman gives birth and just automatically knows how to breastfeed her baby because it’s a “natural” instinct. Heck, I even thought that for a while. But apparently we were wrong. “Natural” is what you think and define and make of it. And I think this applies to all aspects of life.
I’m glad Shana wrote this. Betty Friedan said that women could never be equal to men without escaping their biology. I agree that naturalness is a social constructed reality, but,I’m not sure I agree withthe idea that somehow I have to escape from my womanlines, whatever I might understand that to be.
I actually don’t take birth control at all because the idea of it scares me to my very core. My reproductive cycle works perfectly and does not need to be controlled (I am also comfortable with becoming a mother if I become pregnant). I have never used the pill (or the patch or anything else) and have never become pregnant, mostly because I am careful, but I suppose luck is also involved.
I just don’t like the idea of some outside element changing what my body would otherwise do on its own. I also don’t take asprin. I don’t have a problem with people wo take asprin or birth control, but I do know that the verdict won’t be back on birth control until we’ve gone a full generation in and seen the outcomes. Birth control looks great and super safe thus far….
Period changing drugs are not fully understood in the long term (No long term sutdies have been done so even the best research scientists really have no idea about what the long term effects might be). A sign of health is a normal period cycle. I’m invested in letting my body do what my ancestors have done for thousands of years. I like it that way - and as caught up in social definitions as this is, I find it to be natural.
Others want to escape thier biology as Ms. Friedan finds to be crucial (I believe this option is crucial and have much to do with economic and social justice as well - more on that later). Well - best of luck!
Also - PMS is a socially constructed ‘disorder’ just like ‘hysteria’. Don’t let them control your body and your mind!
